The Baker and His Witch
by YouKnowYouLovett
Summary: As they take a break from running away from the giant, the Witch and the Baker think back to old times and why things turned out the way they did. Rated T to be safe. First ITW fic. Oneshot. BakerXWitch


**Don't own this lovely musical- it belongs to Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine. :) Enjoy!  
This is for ConfusedColumbia26220, who has asked me to contribute to the ITW section. :)  
****I just kept the characters' names as the actors/actresses that play them- their names kind of suit them, too, which is cool... well, they do for **_**me.**_

******This is a little wonky, so I'm going to explain the timeline:  
The story has a bit of a different timeline: first Bernadette (the Witch) meets Chip (the Baker), and is then cursed when his father steals beans from her garden before he runs away... you'll see!**

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She didn't know why she was crying. It wasn't something that she usually did- it wasn't one of her favourite pastimes or hobbies like she knew it was to some people. As a single tear rolled down her cheek, Bernadette questioned herself on whether or not she was just like them. She was a witch. _That_ she had known since the day her mother had told her, which had been, in reality, quite some time ago. However, she had never thought that a witch would ever be able to have the same emotions of a normal human. She had never before experienced genuine sadness, not even when her mother had died, and so she thought it was just an emotion for others, something that perhaps wasn't necessary for witches to possess.

When she looked back on her life, Bernadette realized that she had always been a very cold person. Not in the sense that she had often felt draughts, or even that she was particularly unkind to people... perhaps then, she thought, "cold" wasn't the word she'd been looking for. More... She didn't even know how to describe herself. This caused more tears to trickle down her cheeks, though she wouldn't give in to them. She supposed, then, that one might call her strong, even stubborn. No, still that gave her little comfort. It wasn't that she hated everybody, or was exceptionally hateful towards them... well, alright, she _was_, but she had been deprived of social interaction for so long in her childhood that she found it rather difficult to get along with other people.

Bernadette felt bad now, but she thought back to when she'd discovered Jack sobbing over Joanna, the Baker's wife. Before approaching him, she remembered smiling –almost laughing- and she didn't know why. She supposed that, in the end, she was jealous of her. Joanna had had everything- the charming, perfect little husband, the baby, the _family_, in general, was what she, Bernadette, had always wanted. She had loved Chip the baker since she had first laid eyes on him. They had both been small- no more than seven, she imagined, and they would secretly play. She would sneak out the back of the garden after having finished her chores, and he would do the same. They played games, laughed, talked and, most of all, had fun. However, one day, Chip simply didn't show up. Bernadette had no idea why. She'd waited and waited for him to come sneaking 'round the fencepost and run over to her, but he never did show up. Of course they were seventeen by that time, and were still under the close watch of their parents... well, Chip's mother had died some time ago, and his father had recently run away to heaven knew where, so he'd been without parents for a little while. She pitied the boy, and so became closer to him, if that was at all possible. As she sat by herself, wishing he'd pop up out of nowhere, she heard a girlish giggle (something she had never done), as well as the sound of Chip's voice. Because her bedroom was on the second story of the small cottage, she raced up to her window. As she peered out through the curtains, she wished she'd never seen him sitting beneath the apple tree, kissing this almost-red-haired girl. It was that day that her heart tore in two, and also the day when she swore to herself that she'd never love again- it only caused pain.

Just as this thought crossed her mind, Bernadette snapped back to reality. _That_ was why she had laughed at the sight of Joanna's dead body. _That _was why she wasn't close to anybody, why she could only stand by and watch the events unfolding around her- she didn't care enough about anyone to feel the need to save them from this giant. Though she had been brought up in a magical household, she had never once thought about the consequences of a giant being brought down from the skies.

As she stopped thinking for a moment, Bernadette looked around. Everyone was gone. The young boy that had caused the trouble with the giants, the talkative, rather annoying little girl, the other princess-whatever girl, and... Her eyes met Chip's, or at least, she thought they did. He seemed dazed, which was understandable. Bernadette was about to talk to him, but she thought better and instead turned away and went back to her reeling head. Not that there was anything left to think about, though- she had covered essentially everything in the past few minutes. Frustrated by this, and the fact that she was still crying, she stalked over to a tree and slid down its gnarled trunk to the ground, the tears now trailing off her face and either down her neck, or they dropped off completely and fell to her lap silently.

Though Bernadette had her head buried in her arms, which were resting rather uncomfortably on her knees, she couldn't fail to notice a prescence beside her. She looked up, her face tear-stained, to see Chip, who was looking down at her with genuine concern. He said nothing, and neither did she, for the longest time, until finally, he sighed and sat next to her. "My father was a wise man," he said as he stared through the trees ahead of them. "I know," she replied, "I've met him a long time ago, or have you forgotten?" Chip sighed again and shook his head. "No... no, I've never forgotten. Not the fact that you've met my father, not us playing games in the afternoon after we'd finished our chores, not our long talks... none of it," he concluded quietly, as though he might ruin this 'moment' by speaking too loudly. "Nor I... I'll never forget the baker's son, who stole my heart, and then broke it carelessly like an owl breaks a mouse- he thinks nothing of it and moves on."

Chip was, admittedly, rather offended by Bernadette's last remark, however, he kept up their conversation. "And I shall never forget the pretty witch from next door, who stole my heart, even though it was given away to someone else. Think on the contrary, Miss Witch- the baker's son did not carelessly break your heart- he thought much of it, and has never moved on," he said, quietly, still. Bernadette turned to look at him, and he, her. After a moment, she stood and began walking away. "Now wait," Chip said as he leapt up from the ground and raced after her- she could walk surprisingly fast. He grabbed her arm and turned her around abruptly. "You know that I never meant to hurt you," he began, but she interrupted. "Do I? Even if I did, it wouldn't matter. You've had everything and I've been stuck in that cursed cottage, old and ugly because your stupid father stole the special beans from my garden! My mother had put a spell on them, saying that I'd be cursed if I was ever to lose them. All I've done for the past twenty years is sat alone- doing nothing but wondering why I wasn't good enough for you, why you had to have Joanna..."

Bernadette pulled her arm out of Chip's grasp and began to walk away again. However, just like the last time, he stopped her again. "Listen- _please_ listen. My father set me up with Joanna, and I was obligated to marry her. Just before he... left, he had her father bring her over, and of course I liked her at first, and I've always loved her," again, he was interrupted. "That answers my question, then," Bernadette said coldly as she tried to set her arm free, however, she knew no such thing was happening- his grip was too tight, now. "But not in the way that I love you," he finished. She stared at him for a moment, forgetting about his locked grip on her arm, forgetting that they were in the middle of a war with a giant... forgetting everything except for those few words that he had just spoken. "You... you love me?" she asked, not sure that she wanted to hear the answer. "Yes," he said, "I do. I always have, and I'm sure I always will."

This caused a change in Bernadette. Not a big one, mind- she was set in her ways, and things didn't often change, but at his confirmation of his love for her, she could feel her heart mending, and soon it was only scarred, no longer in pieces. He let go of her arm, now, and she turned to face him. Chip moved closer to her, stood slightly on his toes (she was a bit taller than he, given the heels of her boots) and kissed her gently. For her, it was the happiest she'd ever felt. She kissed him back, willing the moment never to end.

Most unfortunately, the moment did end at the sound of crashing footsteps, and the Witch and the Baker were once again filled with anxiety. They knew little or nothing of what would happen, now that the giant was fast-approaching, but somewhere, deep down, they felt that they would make it through, and would triumph over the giant..._ together._

That day, they did, in fact, win against the giant with a clever scheme devised by everyone. Though the little village was left in ruin, they eventually restored it to its previous state.

One late afternoon, as Chip and Bernadette sat, holding each other in their arms, watching Danielle playing with Tom (Chip and Joanna's son- named after his grandfather), they realized that true love never ends- it may leave for lengthy periods of time, but one thing that's certain is that it, no matter what, will always return.

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**Please review if you'd like- reviews might be nice. :)**


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